When I first moved to Boulder over 20 years ago, I felt a strong impulse to find a doctor–not just any doctor, but the top doctor–the one that most people recommended. After all, I reasoned, I needed one; where I grew up, my siblings and I relied on our primary care physician to administer regular shots, antibiotics, or prescriptions over the years, never questioning his decisions for us.

So, days later, I had booked my appointment. I was happy. It was the responsible thing to do I told myself. I brought my husband because, surely, he would need the routine check up as well. We were met with the question “What do you want me to do? I replied “You know the regular stuff–aren’t you going to check me for this and what about that?” and within a few moments, tired of my gibberish, he told me to sit down and in not so many words to shut up.

Wow. I was speechless and indignant for a moment. We paid a lot, we left. I was furious and thought, what did we get? Well, as I reflect, I got the gift of a lifetime. I got a sense of empowerment, and the permission to take back my life and to be responsible for my own healing. This is a journey that has given me tremendous strength, reclaimed health and vitality, and the desire to know more about my self and in doing so help others navigate through fear and anxiety and information overwhelm on their healing journey and path. I had options and resiliency in raising our sons. I explored what products/lifestyle practices are truly life giving. I am a seeker, and I continue to examine how I/we approach this topic of wellness and how can I/we honor every beings’ unique path.

In this day and age when health care is unaffordable for so many and the quality of care is unreliable at best, being my own advocate and taking responsibility for my own health has been a blessing. I feel fortunate to be living in Boulder where I have access to many complimentary approaches to wellness and an abundance of organic foods/farmers markets and healthy lifestyle options. I am also grateful that we have compassionate and caring doctors who have been there for family emergencies.

A life changing event for me and my family occurred a few years ago when I noticed that our family needed something different in our lives. We were all working too hard to find peace in our daily lives. We were not thriving. Stressed and out of balance, I knew that it would require a big move of some kind. I researched possible summer options, something that would take us out of our story. Once I had mentioned this interest to explore Hawaii and surf school for boys or perhaps a semester exchange through the Waldorf schools, the universe was right there with the most amazing opportunity. Within three months we were swapping homes and cars with a family in South Africa, sending our boys to their local Waldorf school and embarking on a trip of a lifetime. While traveling with 3 young children, I wanted to find healers–doctors along the way that would support our bodies and minds if needed. Someone we could trust being so far from our home network and hospitals. I found the most kind hearted and special folks in Durban, only time did not allow me to fully study with them. They were there to help us deal and adjust with the hemisphere-seasonal challenge and tick fever, a brutal, achy head-banging virus! We were supplied homeopathic malaria prophylactics for our safari adventures. Next stop was Bali and I longed to find a real healer there; I was directed to the man who starred in the book and movie Eat, Pray, Love, but I was disappointed in the encounter because I didn’t feel a sincere connection.

It was then on to New Zealand where I looked for the local herbal salves and what people used for healing there, and finally to Fiji where the boys had heat rashes and earaches that were handled by the locals and their go-to herb magically.

But the constant constant was that despite my world wide searches, I realized that healing begins at home, with what we have around us and that basically begins my story. I was having trouble trusting the product labeling and began questioning everything that was going in and on my body and the the bodies of my children. I longed for truth and transparency in the products on the shelves. I began to ask more questions and make my own food and skin care products. The healers around the world know and use the plants that grow in their backyards. I would begin to learn those plants and weeds in our backyards, alleyways and in the mountains that would help me heal by giving me the connection back with nature that I had lost and in doing so, feed my soul and body. It is my quest to find my own balance in relying on the gifts of the conventional and traditional ways of healing. I have developed my herbal business to inspire and share that love with you all.